EBay's Whitman appears set to run for governor

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11374287

EBay's Whitman appears set to run for governor
By Mary Anne Ostrom
Mercury News
01/05/2009

Meg Whitman, the guiding force behind eBay for a decade, is running for California governor, according to sources close to the Internet giant's former CEO.

Whitman, who rocketed onto the national political stage in 2008 as a high-profile backer of Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and John McCain, plans to make a formal announcement soon that she is seeking to become the GOP's nominee to replace termed-out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2011.

On Dec. 31, Whitman resigned from eBay's board of directors as well as two other corporate boards. One close associate called the moves "a clear signal" that she is running for governor and does not want "her corporate activities to interfere."

The source asked not to be named because Whitman, 52, wants to make a formal announcement in four to six weeks. But he added that Whitman, who has been openly considering a run for months, made her final decision after consulting with her family over the holidays.

Despite her wealth and ties to the eBay brand, Whitman is almost certain to face State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner of Los Gatos, a tech-multimillionare Republican who has been preparing a run for governor for more than a year. Former GOP Congressman Tom Campbell who lives in San Jose, also has formed an exploratory campaign. And should she beat them, she's likely to face a well-known Democrat; among those who have expressed interest in the Democratic nomination are Attorney General Jerry Brown, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and perhaps even U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Whitman spokesman Henry Gomez said she resigned from the corporate boards of eBay, Procter & Gamble and DreamWorks Animation "for personal reasons. She wanted to clear her calendar of obligations in the new year. In terms of her political ambitions, I cannot comment."

A hands-on corporate leader with a marketing background and Harvard MBA, Whitman joined eBay in 1998 as the 30th employee. By the time she resigned as chief executive last March, eBay had more than 15,000 employees and annual revenue of nearly $7.7 billion.

In recent speeches, including a nationally televised one at the September Republican National Convention, Whitman has touted her credentials not just as a corporate job creator but as one who understands the workings of the small businesses around the globe that use eBay as their selling platform.

Her eBay tenure also made her immensely wealthy; Forbes estimated her 2007 net worth at $1.4 billion. But as of her last SEC filing on Nov. 18, Whitman owned 24.2 million shares of eBay, and those shares alone have lost $400 million in value compared with a year ago.

Though she is not an eloquent speechmaker, her corporate experience — combined with her ability to self-finance a campaign— led the Web site Politico.com to name her one of the top 10 political newcomers of 2008.

But history is not on Whitman's side. Self-financed candidates seeking the state's top job have failed many times.

And unlike Campbell and Poizner, Whitman has never been through the rigors of a statewide campaign. She already endured some bad press after it was disclosed she only registered as a Republican in 2007, switching from decline-to-state. And she has had a spotty voting record during her time as a California resident.

Gomez, her spokesman, said Whitman regrets her failure to vote but had her "head down" running a company and raising a family. She has two college-age sons. And she chose to switch to a GOP registration, Gomez said, so she could vote for Romney in the 2008 California presidential primary.

Quipped Poizner campaign chief Jim Brulte on Monday: "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Mercury News Data Manager Jack Davis contributed to this report. Contact Mary Anne Ostrom at mostrom@mercurynews.com or (415) 477-3794.